LONG POND, Pa. – Being an agent of change in NASCAR cuts both ways for Bubba Wallace.
He is seen as a hero to some, particularly those who have longed for a Black driver to shake things up in a predominantly white sport. To others, the 26-year-old represents something else entirely, and he has seen plenty of haters out on social media over his career.
It has intensified in recent days.
He has brushed them off, especially the ones accusing Wallace or his Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 team of being involved in a hoax, of somehow being behind the garage door pulldown rope fashioned as a noose that was found in their garage stall at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway last weekend.
“You quickly realize,” Wallace said, “they don’t give a damn about you, and I don’t give a damn about them.”